Yeah maybe a trade coming? There are a few teams who need a big, maybe one of them will bite on Hill or Sacre. Of course even if there isn't a trade on the way the Lakers can still take a look at Black, they may end up deciding they like him as a backup big over Sacre. I can't see them moving Ed Davis after Kobe's agent brought him here on the "Nick Young special" deal so he could sign a better deal this summer.
I'm happy with this pickup. I think he is a very serviceable player, and is far better than Sacre. I wanted to get Nick Johnson from the Rockets, their other rookie, but I'm happy with this as well.
Maybe we're just securing assets. We only dropped Xavier who was rotting on the bench. He might've been a guy the lakers liked and even though we don't need a big no harm in stashing an asset when the guy we released for him was useless.
Good attitude; good interview after a 10/15 game in preseason: He has started 12 games this season, averaging 19.8 minutes, 5.8 points, 6.8 rebounds, 0.6 assists in those games. He hit 31 of 56 shots; shooting high FG% seems to be his greatest skill right now, but his per 36 minute numbers show he's an excellent rebounder (11.6), in particular on the offensive glass (5.3). He blocked shots in college, but he hasn't done much of that yet in the NBA. 74% of his shots come within 3 feet of the basket, 98% within 10 feet. Here are Black's Efficiency Ratings so far: Scoring Efficiency: 4.70 Passing Efficiency: 1.38 Hustle Efficiency: 3.52 Positional Efficiency: 66.2 For the sake of comparison: Scoring wise, he's efficient in terms of making his shots count. He's not Ed Davis good (1.47 points per FGA), but he's better than Boozer (1.17 and Hill 1.16) by a good margin at 1.27. His "downfall" is that he doesn't shoot much, and he doesn't seem to have much of a jumper - so most of his shots come very close to the rim. His .27 points per minute would be lower than every Laker except Henry and Price. Overall, his scoring efficiency is between Henry's and Johnson's. He's not much of a passer. At .02 assists per minute, he has a lower assist rate than every Laker. Nick Young's .032 is the closest. In terms of assists/(assists + to), his .296 is not good either; it would be the lowest on the team. Again, Young's .485 is the worst. Black's 1.38 passing efficiency is worse than anyone's as a result (Young at 1.73 is closest). Black has good hustle numbers. He registers either an offensive rebound, block, or steal every 6 minutes, which is better than every Laker except Ed Davis (Hill is .163, while Black's is .168). In terms of good hustle as a percentage of total hustle, Black's .468 is better than every Laker except Hill (.571), Davis (.593), and Sacre (.495). This makes his hustle efficiency 3.52, better than all but Davis (3.91) and Hill (3.56). His positional efficiency of 66 would be tied with Sacre's, but he seems to be a pretty different sort of player. He's already a big body, and he has a frame to become a physical beast. From what I can see, his individual defensive numbers are ridiculously good, but I like thkthebeast's individual defensive stats, so I want to hear what he says.
It's not a bad move even if we aren't moving another big right now, because we're not going to bring back Hill, Davis, and Boozer - not all three of them - so even if Randle is ready to go, it's nice to have a prospect.
It just dawned on me that Kelly is possibly coming back on Friday against Memphis according to Mike Trudell, and if he can remain healthy, gives us another player that plays the 4/5...with that in mind, this move only makes sense if there is a trade possibly and claiming Black gives us more flexibility to move one of our other Bigs...
What if we claimed Black for a trade? Does he not qualify for a trade per the 1-year deal rule? Or is the rule different for released players?
1. It's a no brainer to go grab a young big man with some potential. 2. If this was a sign of a trade to come, I'd guess it's Hill insurance. Jordan has been solid for us, but he's the one with the most potential return and thus the most likely to go.
There's honestly not much for me to quibble about with this move. We lost a guy that unfortunately was not going to be able to contribute to the team anyway. We gained another young big guy.
Oh and thanks Xavier! You gave your all for us and it's greatly appreciated. Here's to hoping you can come back for us next season.
I just watched some the highlight clips. His feet definitely left the floor on rebounds, and he showed some speed for his size, so he makes Sacre expendable (though I like his solid body d and effort and his personality he is limited) No rose colored specs yet, but think him and Randle would be a physical combo (though shooters would be needed with them. I do think we picked a winner though! I endorse the appreciation for X. He understands the decision it was not personal. If we are making a significant trade I think Hill and Lin are our main chips to get some value back. I feel Lin is out of favor with the league so maybe Hill agrees to move to a contendor.
